Hybrid tomato variety 72-240 rz

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a  Solanum lycopersicum  seed designated 72-240 RZ, which exhibits pink colored fruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules. The present invention also relates to a  Solanum lycopersicum  plant produced by growing the 72-240 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the tomato cultivar, represented by tomato variety 72-240 RZ.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE Related Applications and Incorporation byReference

This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 61/721,263 filed Nov. 1, 2012.

The foregoing applications, and all documents cited therein or duringtheir prosecution (“appln cited documents”) and all documents cited orreferenced in the appln cited documents, and all documents cited orreferenced herein (“herein cited documents”), and all documents cited orreferenced in herein cited documents, together with any manufacturer'sinstructions, descriptions, product specifications, and product sheetsfor any products mentioned herein or in any document incorporated byreference herein, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, and maybe employed in the practice of the invention. More specifically, allreferenced documents are incorporated by reference to the same extent asif each individual document was specifically and individually indicatedto be incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new hybrid tomato (Solanumlycopersicum) variety 72-240 RZ which exhibits a combination of traitsincluding pink colored fruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape ofthe fruits in longitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tomato plants of the species Solanum lycopersicum belong to thenightshade family, also known as Solanaceae. Within this family it isnowadays grouped in the genus Solanum, which does not only harbortomato, but also the important food crops potato and eggplant. It is aperennial, herbaceous, flowering plant species which is native to SouthAmerica.

Other species that are related to tomato within the Solanum genus arefor example Solanum pimpinellifolium, Solanum chilense, Solanumperuvianum and Solanum habrochaites. Although it is known that crossingcan be considerably difficult, these species are used to obtain traitsthat are valuable in growing tomato. In the recent history, advancementin tomato breeding has led to tomato varieties having, for examplehigher yield, higher disease resistance and increased shelf life.

Tomato plants are being cultivated worldwide for their highly nutritiousfruits. The tomato fruit is consumed in diverse ways, including raw, asan ingredient in many dishes and sauces, and in drinks. While it isbotanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes.The fruit is rich in lycopene, which may have beneficial health effects.In 2009, the total acreage for both fresh and processing tomatoes in theUnited States was approximately 442,100 acres, with a total productionof about 14,141,920 tons (source: USDA).

Commercial vegetable production, including the production of tomato, isaffected by many conditions. The choice of the grower for a certainvariety is a determining factor, and forms the genetic basis for theresult that can be achieved. In addition, there are many externalfactors that influence the outcome. Growing conditions like climate,soil, and the use of inputs like fertilizer play a major role. There arevarious ways of cultivating tomatoes, among which, the most common are:open field, greenhouse and shade house production. Although the speciescan be grown under a wide range of climatic conditions, it performs mostsuccessfully under dry and warm conditions. In addition to this, thepresence of pests and diseases also affects the total yield that can bereached.

In order to create tomato varieties that are satisfying the needs ofgrowers and/or consumers, many considerations have to be taken intoaccount. The goal is to combine within a single variety or hybrid animproved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasms.These traits may include higher yield, field performance, fruit andagronomic quality such as firmness, color, content in soluble solids,acidity and viscosity, resistance to diseases and insects, and toleranceto drought and heat. With mechanical harvesting of the tomato fruits forprocessing purpose, i.e., juice, paste, catsup, etc., uniformity ofplant characteristics such as germination, growth rate, maturity, andplant uniformity is also important.

Tomato is a simple diploid species with twelve pairs of chromosomes. Thecultivated tomato is self-fertile and almost exclusivelyself-pollinating. The tomato flowers are hermaphrodites. Tomatocultivars were initially open-pollinated, such as many well-knownheirloom tomatoes, but also varieties were developed for large scalegrowing facilities. Nowadays, especially in a professional growingsetting these cultivars are replaced by better yielding hybrids. Due toits wide dissemination and high value, tomato has been intensively bred.This explains why such a wide array of tomatoes are now available. Thesize may range from small to large, and there are cherry, plum, pear,standard, and beefsteak types. Tomatoes may be grouped by the amount oftime it takes for the plants to mature fruit for harvest; in general thecultivars are considered to be early, midseason or late-maturing.Tomatoes can also be grouped by the plant's growing habit, beingdeterminate or indeterminate. Determinate plants tend to grow theirfoliage first, then set flowers that mature into fruit if pollination issuccessful. All of the fruit tend to ripen on a plant at about the sametime. Indeterminate tomatoes start out by growing some foliage, thencontinue to produce foliage and flowers throughout the growing season.These plants will tend to have tomato fruit in different stages ofmaturity at any given time. More recent developments in tomato breedinghave led to a wider array of fruit color. In addition to the standardred ripe color, tomatoes can have a creamy white, lime green, pink,yellow, golden, or orange color. Also breeding for multiple disease andpest resistances is an important aspect in providing varieties formultiple growing systems and climates. These diseases can be the resultof attacks of either nematodes, bacteria, fungi, viruses and/or insects.Important microorganisms causing such diseases in tomato plants andtheir fruits in this respect include: Meloidogyne incognita (Mi),Verticillium dahliae race 0 (Vd), Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersicirace 0 (ex1) and race 1 (ex2) (Fol), Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicislycopersici (For), Cladosporium fulvum groups A, B, C, D and E (Ff),Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) strain 0, 1 and 2, Stemphylium spp. andTomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV).

Further, the color, shape, taste and size of the fruits that areproduced by the tomato plant are relevant characteristics when breedingfor commercial tomato varieties.

Pink colored tomatoes are not common and most varieties that areavailable are heirloom or open pollinated varieties, i.e. not hybrids.Japanese breeders and growers have a known reputation in relation topink tomato varieties. Most of these varieties also have specific tastewhich is known as ‘umami’, also referred to as the fifth taste, besidesthe common tastes sweet, sour, salt and bitter. This umami taste is verypopular in Japan, but also outside the country (Yamaguchi et al.,Journal of Nutrition, 130(4), 921S-926S, 2000).

Most available pink tomato varieties tend to produce relatively largefruits. The size of a tomato fruit is related with the number oflocules. In general it can be stated that the larger the number oflocules present in one fruit, the larger the size of this fruit will be(Mañs S et al., Plant Physiol., 156(4), 2244-2254, 2011). In addition,the fruits of pink heirloom varieties show very strong ribbing at thepeduncle end of the fruit, and the fruits have a flattened shape whenmeasured in longitudinal section.

The way in which fruits from tomato plants are harvested is alsorelevant. When the fruits are not ripe at the same time, single harvestof fruits has to be applied in order to provide a fresh product to theconsumer. In the case that fruits of one truss are ripening synchronous,the whole truss can be harvested and be marketed. To support thisdevelopment, the interest for breeding of uniform ripening trusses hasincreased in the recent years.

Citation or identification of any document in this application is not anadmission that such document is available as prior art to the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There exists a need for a hybrid tomato variety which exhibits acombination of traits including pink colored fruits, medium sizedfruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section, fruitshaving two or three locules.

The present invention fulfills this need by providing a new tomato(Solanum lycopersicum) variety, designated 72-240 RZ. Tomato cultivar72-240 RZ exhibits a combination of traits including pink coloredfruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits inlongitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules.

The present invention provides seeds of tomato cultivar 72-240 RZ, whichhave been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial, Marineand Food Bacteria (NCIMB) in Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, Scotland, UKand have been assigned NCIMB Accession No. 42048.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a tomato plant which mayexhibit a combination of traits including pink colored fruits, mediumsized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section,fruits having two or three locules, representative seed of which havebeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a tomato plant which mayexhibit a combination of traits including pink colored fruits, mediumsized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section,fruits having two or three locules, representative seed of which havebeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048, or tomato variety orcultivar designated 72-240 RZ, as well as seed from such a plant, plantparts of such a plant (such as those mentioned herein) and plants fromsuch seed and/or progeny of such a plant, advantageously progenyexhibiting such combination of such traits, each of which may be withinthe scope of the invention; such combination of traits may also includeweak ribbing at the peduncle end, absence of green shoulder beforematurity and an indeterminate growth type. Preferably, the plants of theinvention are suited for cluster harvesting, i.e the harvesting ofcomplete trusses.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a tomato plant which mayexhibit a combination of traits including resistance to Verticilliumdahliae race 0 (Vd), Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici race 0 (ext)and race 1 (ex2) (Fol), Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici(For), Cladosporium fulvum groups A, B, C, D and E (Ff), Tomato MosaicVirus (ToMV) strain 0, 1 and 2, Stemphylium spp. and Tomato Spotted WiltVirus (TSWV) and absence of sensitivity to silvering.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a tomato plant designated72-240 RZ, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42048.

In an embodiment of the present invention, there also is provided partsof a tomato plant of the invention, which may include parts of a tomatoplant exhibiting a combination of traits including pink colored fruits,medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinalsection, fruits having two or three locules, or parts of a tomato planthaving any of the aforementioned resistance(s) and a combination oftraits including one or more morphological or physiologicalcharacteristics tabulated herein, including parts of hybrid tomatovariety 72-240 RZ, wherein the plant parts are involved in sexualreproduction, which include, without limitation, microspores, pollen,ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs or egg cells and/or wherein the plant partsare suitable for vegetative reproduction, which include, withoutlimitation, cuttings, roots, stems, cells or protoplasts and/or whereinthe plant parts are tissue culture of regenerable cells in which thecells or protoplasts of the tissue culture are derived from a tissuesuch as, for example and without limitation, leaves, pollen, embryos,cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers,flowers, seeds or stems. The plants of the invention from which suchparts may come include those wherein representative seed of which hasbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048.

In another embodiment there is a plant grown from seeds, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048. Ina further embodiment there is a plant regenerated from theabove-described plant parts or regenerated from the above-describedtissue culture. Advantageously such a plant may have morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics of hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZand/or of a plant grown from seed, representative seed of which havingbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048—including withoutlimitation such plants having all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ and/or of a plantgrown from seed, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048. Accordingly, in still a furtherembodiment, there is provided a tomato plant having all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of hybrid tomato variety72-240 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42048. Such a plant may be grown from the seeds,regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated fromthe above-described tissue culture. A tomato plant having any of theaforementioned resistance(s), and one or more morphological orphysiological characteristics recited or tabulated herein, and a tomatoplant advantageously having all of the aforementioned resistances andthe characteristics recited and tabulated herein, are preferred. Partsof such plants—such as those plant parts above-mentioned—are encompassedby the invention.

In one embodiment, there is provided progeny of tomato cultivar 72-240RZ produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from seeds,regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated fromthe above-described tissue culture of the tomato cultivar or a progenyplant thereof, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42048.

Progeny of the hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ may be modified in one ormore other characteristics, in which the modification is a result of,for example and without limitation, mutagenesis or transformation with atransgene.

In still another embodiment, the present invention provides progeny oftomato cultivar 72-240 RZ produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction,grown from seeds, regenerated from the above-described plant parts, orregenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the tomatocultivar or a progeny plant thereof, in which the regenerated plantshows a combination of traits including pink colored fruits, mediumsized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section,fruits having two or three locules.

In another embodiment the invention relates to a method of producing aninbred tomato plant derived from a plant of the invention of whichrepresentative seed has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB42048, which may comprise of the steps: a) preparing a progeny plantderived from hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ by crossing a tomato plantexhibiting a combination of traits including pink colored fruits, mediumsized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section,fruits having two or three locules, representative seed of which havebeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048 with a second tomatoplant; b) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second tomatoplant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation;c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed andcrossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or asecond tomato plant; and d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 1 moregeneration to produce an inbred tomato plant derived from the hybridtomato variety 72-240 RZ.

The invention even further relates to a method of producing tomatofruits which may comprise: (a) cultivating the hybrid tomato variety72-240 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048, to produce fruits and; (b) harvestingtomato fruits from the plant. The invention further comprehends thefruit itself, optionally in processed or packed form.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to not encompass withinthe invention any previously known product, process of making theproduct, or method of using the product such that Applicants reserve theright and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously known product,process, or method. It is further noted that the invention does notintend to encompass within the scope of the invention any product,process, or making of the product or method of using the product, whichdoes not meet the written description and enablement requirements of theUSPTO (35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph) or the EPO (Article 83 of theEPC), such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose adisclaimer of any previously described product, process of making theproduct, or method of using the product.

It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims,terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, and “comprising” and the like(e.g., “includes”, “included”, “including”, “contains”, “contained”,“containing”, “has”, “had”, “having”, etc.) can have the meaningascribed to them in US Patent law, i.e., they are open ended terms. Forexample, any method that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or moresteps is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps and alsocovers other unlisted steps. Similarly, any plant that “comprises,”“has” or “includes” one or more traits is not limited to possessing onlythose one or more traits and covers other unlisted traits. Similarly,the terms “consists essentially of and “consisting essentially of havethe meaning ascribed to them in US Patent law, e.g., they allow forelements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found inthe prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of theinvention. See also MPEP §2111.03. In addition, the term “about” is usedto indicate that a value includes the standard deviation of error forthe device or method being employed to determine the value.

These and other embodiments are disclosed or are obvious from andencompassed by the following Detailed Description.

DEPOSIT

The Deposit with NCIMB Ltd, Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate,Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK, on Aug. 31, 2012, under depositaccession number NCIMB 42048 was made pursuant to the terms of theBudapest Treaty. Upon issuance of a patent, all restrictions upon thedeposit will be removed, and the deposit is intended to meet therequirements of 37 CFR §1.801-1.809. The deposit will be maintained inthe depository for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the lastrequest, or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer,and will be replaced if necessary during that period.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description, given by way of example, but notintended to limit the invention solely to the specific embodimentsdescribed, may best be understood in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of ten different shapes of tomato fruits.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants,seeds and derivatives of a new hybrid tomato variety herein referred toas hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ. 72-240 RZ is a hybrid plant varietythat is uniform and distinct from other such hybrids, and may be stablyproduced after a cycle of reproduction.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel plant withdesirable characteristics. Selection of traits is a very importantaspect of plant breeding. Once desirable traits are identified, theplants with those desirable traits are crossed in order to recombine thedesirable traits and through selection, varieties or parent lines aredeveloped. The goal is to combine in a single variety or hybrid animproved combination of desirable traits from the parent plant orplants. These important traits may include but are not limited to higheryield, field performance, fruit and agronomic quality such as fruitshape, color and length, resistance to diseases and insects, andtolerance to drought and heat.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). Popular selection methods commonly include but are notlimited to pedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, massselection, and recurrent selection.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genescoding for a highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. Thisapproach is used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improvequantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use ofrecurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease ofpollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination,and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross.

The development of commercial tomato hybrids relates to the developmentof tomato parental lines, the crossing of these lines, and theevaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selectionbreeding methods are used to develop cultivars from breedingpopulations. Breeding programs combine desirable traits from two or morevarieties or various broad-based sources into breeding pools from whichlines are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. Thenew lines are crossed with other lines and the hybrids from thesecrosses are evaluated to determine which have the desirablecharacteristics.

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement and developmentof inbred lines of self-pollinating or cross-pollinating crops. Twoparents which possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed toproduce an F1. An F2 population is produced by selfing one or severalF1s or by intercrossing two F1s (sib mating). Selection of the bestindividuals is usually begun in the F2 population; then, beginning inthe F3, generally the best individuals in the best families areselected. Replicated testing of families, or hybrid combinationsinvolving individuals of these families, often follows in the F4generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with lowheritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding suitable lines are usedas parents to produce F1 hybrids, which are subsequently tested forpotential release as new varieties or cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selections may be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified or createdby intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror line that is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to betransferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g. the cultivar orparent line) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of thedonor parent for the preferred trait are selected and repeatedly crossed(backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g. the cultivar orparent line) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.

Other methods of breeding may also relate to the single-seed descentprocedure which refers to planting a segregating population, harvestinga sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plantthe next generation. When the population has been advanced from the F2to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines arederived will each trace to different F2 individuals. The number ofplants in a population declines each generation due to failure of someseeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed. As aresult, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the populationwill be represented by a progeny when generation advance is completed.

In addition to phenotypic observations, the genotype of a plant may alsobe examined. There are many laboratory-based techniques available forthe analysis, comparison and characterization of plant genotype; thesetechniques include but are not limited to Isozyme Electrophoresis,Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length polymorphisms(AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs—which are also referred to asMicrosatellites), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs).

Isozyme Electrophoresis and RFLPs have been widely used to determinegenetic composition. Shoemaker and Olsen, (Molecular Linkage Map ofSoybean (Glycine max) p 6.131-6.138 in S. J. O'Brien (ed) Genetic Maps:Locus Maps of Complex Genomes, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, ColdSpring Harbor, N.Y., (1993)) developed a molecular genetic linkage mapthat consisted of 25 linkage groups with about 365 RFLP, 11 RAPD, threeclassical markers and four isozyme loci. See also, Shoemaker, R. C.,RFLP Map of Soybean, p 299-309, in Phillips, R. L. and Vasil, I. K.,eds. DNA-Based Markers in Plants, Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, theNetherlands (1994).

SSR technology is currently the most efficient and practical markertechnology; more marker loci may be routinely used and more alleles permarker locus may be found using SSRs in comparison to RFLPs. Forexample, Diwan and Cregan described a highly polymorphic microsatellitelocus in soybean with as many as 26 alleles. (Diwan, N. and Cregan, P.B., Theor. Appl. Genet. 95:22-225, 1997.) SNPs may also be used toidentify the unique genetic composition of the invention and progenyvarieties retaining that unique genetic composition. Various molecularmarker techniques may be used in combination to enhance overallresolution.

Molecular markers, which include markers identified through the use oftechniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, RFLPs, RAPDs, AP-PCR, DAF,SCARs, AFLPs, SSRs, and SNPs, may be used in plant breeding. One use ofmolecular markers is Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping. QTL mappingis the use of markers which are known to be closely linked to allelesthat have measurable effects on a quantitative trait. Selection in thebreeding process is based upon the accumulation of markers linked to thepositive effecting alleles and/or the elimination of the markers linkedto the negative effecting alleles from the plant's genome.

Molecular markers may also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest may be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. The markers may also beused to select toward the genome of the recurrent parent and against themarkers of the donor parent.

This procedure attempts to minimize the amount of genome from the donorparent that remains in the selected plants. It may also be used toreduce the number of crosses back to the recurrent parent needed in abackcrossing program. The use of molecular markers in the selectionprocess is often called genetic marker enhanced selection ormarker-assisted selection. Molecular markers may also be used toidentify and exclude certain sources of germplasm as parental varietiesor ancestors of a plant by providing a means of tracking geneticprofiles through crosses.

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits intotomato varieties. Mutations that occur spontaneously or are artificiallyinduced may be useful sources of variability for a plant breeder. Thegoal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate of mutation for adesired characteristic. Mutation rates may be increased by manydifferent means including temperature, long-term seed storage, tissueculture conditions, radiation (such as X-rays, Gamma rays, neutrons,Beta radiation, or ultraviolet radiation), chemical mutagens (such asbase analogs like 5-bromo-uracil), antibiotics, alkylating agents (suchas sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethyleneamines,sulfates, sulfonates, sulfones, or lactones), azide, hydroxylamine,nitrous acid or acridines. Once a desired trait is observed throughmutagenesis the trait may then be incorporated into existing germplasmby traditional breeding techniques. Details of mutation breeding may befound in Principles of Cultivar Development by Fehr, MacmillanPublishing Company, 1993.

The production of doubled haploids may also be used for the developmentof homozygous lines in a breeding program. Doubled haploids are producedby the doubling of one set of chromosomes from a heterozygous plant toproduce a completely homozygous individual. For example, see Wan et al.,Theor. Appl. Genet., 77:889-892, 1989.

The tomato plant of the invention may be arrived at through crossing ofinbred lines or through selection of the disclosed desirablecharacteristics by any of the breeding and selection methods mentionedabove.

Hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ is a cross between two uniform parentlines and made for the first time in 2011. The female line TR 1209, auniform line from a backcross of the red line TR 5222 x (TR 5222 x thepink 06S Mom 235-1). The male line TR 5210, a uniform line from abackcross of the red line TR 5306 x (TR 5306 x the pink 06S Mom 235-1).Both parent lines were selected and developed from the initial crossuntil uniformity on the RZ breeding station in De Lier in TheNetherlands. This breeding process resulted in a tomato variety whichproduces round, pink tomato fruits of a medium size, suitable forharvest of complete trusses and for growing under heated greenhouseconditions.

In one embodiment, a plant of the invention has all the morphologicaland physiological characteristics of tomato variety 72-240 RZ. Thesecharacteristics of a tomato plant of the invention, e.g. variety 72-240RZ, are summarized in Table 1. In table 2 the main differences with acomparable publicly available variety are given.

The information presented in tables 1 and 2 was determined in trialexperiments in accordance with official Dutch plant variety registrationauthorities (Naktuinbouw). The terminology used in these tables is theofficial terminology as used by the Dutch plant variety registrationauthorities (Naktuinbouw) as of the filing date, and is thus clear for aperson skilled in the art.

As used herein pink is a fruit color comparable to the fruit color ofthe varieties “House Momotaro” and “Aichi First”.

As used herein medium is a fruit size comparable to the fruit size ofthe varieties “Alphamech” and “Diego”.

As used herein circular shape of the fruits in longitudinal section is afruit shape comparable to the fruit shape of the varieties “Cerise” and“Moneymaker”.

As used herein, the two to three locules present in fruits, is thelocule number comparable to the locule number in the varieties“Alphamech” and “Futuria”.

As used herein, weak ribbing at the peduncle end is the ribbing of afruit comparable to the ribbing of a fruit of the varieties “Early Mech”and “Melody”.

As used herein, the absence of green shoulders before maturity is aphenomenon comparable to the absence of green shoulders before maturityas present in the varieties “Felicia” and “Rio Grande”.

As used herein, an indeterminate growth type, is a growth typecomparable to the growth type of varieties “Marmande VR” and“Saint-Pierre”.

The varieties that are referred to in the abovemade comparisons arevarieties that are used in the “Protocol for the distinctness,uniformity and stability tests”, adopted and entried in force on March21st, 2012 by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO).

As used herein resistance against Verticillium dahliae (Vd) is theability of a plant to resist infection by race 0 in all stages betweenthe seedling stage and the plant stage wherein the plants bearharvestable fruits.

As used herein resistance against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici(Fol) is the ability of a plant to resist infection by each of thevarious strains race 0 (ext) and race 1 (ex2) in all stages between theseedling stage and the plant stage wherein the plants bear harvestablefruits.

As used herein resistance against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicislycopersici (For), is the ability of a plant to resist infection in allstages between the seedling stage and the plant stage wherein the plantsbear harvestable fruits.

As used herein resistance against Cladosporium fulvum (Ff) is theability of a plant to resist infection by each of the various strains ofgroups A, B, C, D and E in all stages between the seedling stage and theplant stage wherein the plants bear harvestable fruits.

As used herein resistance against Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) is theability of a plant to resist infection by each of the various strains 0,1 and 2, in all stages between the seedling stage and the plant stagewherein the plants bear harvestable fruits.

As used herein resistance against Stemphylium spp is the ability of aplant to resist infection in all stages between the seedling stage andthe plant stage wherein the plants bear harvestable fruits.

As used herein resistance against Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) isthe ability of a plant to resist infection in all stages between theseedling stage and the plant stage wherein the plants bear harvestablefruits.

As used herein, the absence of sensitivity to silvering is the absenceof white foliar flecking in plants, during all stages between theseedling stage and the plant stage wherein the plants bear harvestablefruits, when these plants are grown under greenhouse conditions,optionally under low temperatures.

Embodiments of the invention advantageously have one or more, and mostadvantageously all, of these characteristics.

TABLE 1 Physiological and morphological characteristics of hybrid tomatovariety 72-240 RZ. Variety description information for 72-240 RZGeneral: Type: Round pink Usage: Fresh market or garden Type of culture:Under glass, staked Plant: Growth type: Indeterminate Height: MediumLeaf: Division of blade: Bipinnate Intensity of green color: MediumPeduncle Abscission layer: Present Fruit: Size: Medium (100 g.) Shape inlongitudinal section: Circular (FIG. 1, type 3) Ribbing at peduncle end:Weak Number of locules: Two or three Green shoulder (before maturity)Absent Color (at maturity): Pink Firmness Medium Time of maturity:Medium Shelf-life Medium (2.5 weeks) Disease and pest resistances:Sensitivity to silvering Absent Meloidogyne incognita (Mi) SusceptibleVerticillium dahliae race 0 (Vd) Present Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici Present race 0 (ex1) (Fol) Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.lycopersici Present race 1 (ex2) (Fol) Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicisPresent lycopersici (For) Cladosporium fulvum (Ff) group A PresentCladosporium fulvum (Ff) group B Present Cladosporium fulvum (Ff) groupC Present Cladosporium fulvum (Ff) group D Present Cladosporium fulvum(Ff) group E Present Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) strain 0 Present TomatoMosaic Virus (ToMV) strain 1 Present Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) strain 2Present Stemphylium spp. Present Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)Present

TABLE 2 Comparison of 72-240 RZ with Pink Brandywine. Varietydescription information for Pink Brandywine General: Type: Pinkbeefsteak Usage: Fresh market or garden Type of culture: Under glass,staked Plant: Growth type: Indeterminate Height: Medium Leaf: Divisionof blade: Pinnate Intensity of green colour: Medium Peduncle Abscissionlayer: Present Fruit: Size: Large (200 g.) Shape in longitudinalsection: Flattened Ribbing at peduncle end: Very strong Number oflocules: More than six Green shoulder (before maturity) Present Color(at maturity): Pink Firmness Medium Time of maturity: Late Shelf-lifeMedium (2 weeks)

In an embodiment, the invention relates to tomato plants that have allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of the invention andhave acquired said characteristics by introduction of the geneticinformation that is responsible for the characteristics from a suitablesource, either by conventional breeding, or genetic modification, inparticular by cisgenesis or transgenesis. Cisgenesis is geneticmodification of plants with a natural gene, coding for an (agricultural)trait, from the crop plant itself or from a sexually compatible donorplant. Transgenesis is genetic modification of a plant with a gene froma non-crossable species or a synthetic gene.

Just as useful traits that may be introduced into a hybrid bybackcrossing the trait into one or both parents, useful traits may beintroduced directly into the plant of the invention, being a plant ofhybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ, by genetic transformation techniques;and, such plants of hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ that have additionalgenetic information introduced into the genome or that expressadditional traits by having the DNA coding therefore introduced into thegenome via transformation techniques, are within the ambit of theinvention, as well as uses of such plants, and the making of suchplants.

Genetic transformation may therefore be used to insert a selectedtransgene into the plant of the invention, being a plant of hybridtomato variety 72-240 RZ or may, alternatively, be used for thepreparation of transgenes which may be introduced by backcrossing.Methods for the transformation of plants, including tomato, are wellknown to those of skill in the art.

Vectors used for the transformation of tomato cells are not limited solong as the vector may express an inserted DNA in the cells. Forexample, vectors which may comprise promoters for constitutive geneexpression in tomato cells (e.g., cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter)and promoters inducible by exogenous stimuli may be used. Examples ofsuitable vectors include pBI binary vector. The “tomato cell” into whichthe vector is to be introduced includes various forms of tomato cells,such as cultured cell suspensions, protoplasts, leaf sections, andcallus. A vector may be introduced into tomato cells by known methods,such as the polyethylene glycol method, polycation method,electroporation, Agrobacterium-mediated transfer, particle bombardmentand direct DNA uptake by protoplasts. To effect transformation byelectroporation, one may employ either friable tissues, such as asuspension culture of cells or embryogenic callus or alternatively onemay transform immature embryos or other organized tissue directly. Inthis technique, one would partially degrade the cell walls of the chosencells by exposing them to pectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) ormechanically wound tissues in a controlled manner.

A particularly efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segmentsto plant cells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particlesare coated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten,platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspensionare concentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively,immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culturemedium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriatedistance below the macroprojectile stopping plate. An illustrativeembodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plant cells byacceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, which may beused to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through a screen, suchas a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surface covered with targettomato cells. The screen disperses the particles so that they are notdelivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates. It is believedthat a screen intervening between the projectile apparatus and the cellsto be bombarded reduces the size of projectiles aggregate and maycontribute to a higher frequency of transformation by reducing thedamage inflicted on the recipient cells by projectiles that are toolarge. Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, andmay be used to transform virtually any plant species, including a plantof tomato variety 72-240 RZ.

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is another widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique isthat DNA may be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassingthe need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast.Agrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E.coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenient manipulations.Moreover, advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transferhave improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites in thevectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable of expressingvarious polypeptide coding genes. The vectors have convenientmulti-linker regions flanked by a promoter and a polyadenylation sitefor direct expression of inserted polypeptide coding genes.Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed and disarmed Ti genesmay be used for transformation. In those plant strains whereAgrobacterium-mediated transformation is efficient, it is the method ofchoice because of the facile and defined nature of the gene locustransfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediated plant integrating vectors tointroduce DNA into plant cells, including tomato plant cells, is wellknown in the art (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,250,560 and 5,563,055).

Transformation of plant protoplasts also may be achieved using methodsbased on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment,electroporation, and combinations of these treatments.

A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for anygene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers,scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance,nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest.Examples of constitutive promoters useful for tomato plant geneexpression include, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus(CaMV) P-35S promoter, a tandemly duplicated version of the CaMV 35Spromoter, the enhanced 35S promoter (P-e35S), the nopaline synthasepromoter, the octopine synthase promoter, the figwort mosaic virus(P-FMV) promoter (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619), an enhanced version ofthe FMV promoter (P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV isduplicated in tandem, the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter, asugarcane bacilliform virus promoter, a commelina yellow mottle viruspromoter, the promoter for the thylakoid membrane proteins from tomato(psaD, psaF, psaE, PC, FNR, atpC, atpD, cab, rbcS) (see U.S. Pat. No.7,161,061), the CAB-1 promoter from tomato (see U.S. Pat No. 7,663,027),the promoter from maize prolamin seed storage protein (see U.S. Pat No.7,119,255), and other plant DNA virus promoters known to express inplant cells. A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulated inresponse to environmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmentalsignals may be used for expression of an operably linked gene in plantcells, including promoters regulated by (1) heat, (2) light (e.g., pearbcS-3A promoter, maize rbcS promoter, or chlorophyll a/b-bindingprotein promoter), (3) hormones, such as abscisic acid, (4) wounding(e.g., wunl, or (5) chemicals such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid,or Safener. It may also be advantageous to employ organ-specificpromoters.

Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to the tomato variety ofthis invention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from anotherspecies, or even genes or sequences which originate from or are presentin tomato species, but are incorporated into recipient cells by geneticengineering methods rather than classical reproduction or breedingtechniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended to refer togenes that are not normally present in the cell being transformed, orperhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc., as found in thetransforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which are normally presentand that one desires to express in a manner that differs from thenatural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express. Thus, the term“exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any gene or DNA segmentthat is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless of whether asimilar gene may already be present in such a cell. The type of DNAincluded in the exogenous DNA may include DNA which is already presentin the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a differentorganism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequencecontaining an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding asynthetic or modified version of a gene.

Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and couldpotentially be introduced into a plant of tomato variety 72-240 RZ.Non-limiting examples of particular genes and corresponding phenotypesone may choose to introduce into a tomato plant include one or moregenes for insect tolerance, pest tolerance such as genes for fungaldisease control, herbicide tolerance, and genes for quality improvementssuch as yield, nutritional enhancements, environmental or stresstolerances, or any desirable changes in plant physiology, growth,development, morphology or plant product(s).

Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences may affect these phenotypes byencoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targetedinhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example viaantisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms. The RNA could also be acatalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desiredendogenous mRNA product. Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNAwhich expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is usefulfor the practice of the present invention. (See also U.S. Pat No.7,576,262, “Modified gene-silencing RNA and uses thereof”)

U.S. Pats. Nos. 7,230,158, 7,122,720, 7,081,363, 6,734,341, 6,503,732,6,392,121, 6,087,560, 5,981,181, 5,977,060, 5,608,146, 5,516,667, eachof which, and all documents cited therein are hereby incorporated hereinby reference, consistent with the above INCORPORATION BY REFERENCEsection, are additionally cited as examples of U.S. Patents that mayconcern transformed tomato and/or methods of transforming tomato ortomato plant cells, and techniques from these US Patents, as well aspromoters, vectors, etc., may be employed in the practice of thisinvention to introduce exogenous nucleic acid sequence(s) into a plantof tomato variety 72-240 RZ (or cells thereof), and exemplify someexogenous nucleic acid sequence(s) which may be introduced into a plantof tomato variety 72-240 RZ (or cells thereof) of the invention, as wellas techniques, promoters, vectors etc., to thereby obtain further plantsof tomato variety 72-240 RZ, plant parts and cells, seeds, otherpropagation material, harvestable parts of these plants, etc. of theinvention, e.g. tissue culture, including a cell or protoplast, such asan embryo, meristem, cotyledon, pollen, leaf, anther, root, root tip,pistil, flower, seed or stalk.

The invention further relates to propagation material for producingplants of the invention. Such propagation material may comprise interalia seeds of the claimed plant and parts of the plant that are involvedin sexual reproduction. Such parts are for example selected from thegroup consisting of seeds, microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryosacs and egg cells. In addition, the invention relates to propagationmaterial which may comprise parts of the plant that are suitable forvegetative reproduction, for example cuttings, roots, stems, cells,protoplasts.

According to a further aspect thereof the propagation material of theinvention may comprise a tissue culture of the claimed plant. The tissueculture may comprise regenerable cells. Such tissue culture may bederived from leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls,meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.Tissue culture methodologies relating to tomato plants are well known inthe art (Girish-Chandel et al., Advances in Plant Sciences, 13: 1, 11-17(2000); Costa et al., Plant Cell Report, 19: 3 327-332 (2000); Plastiraet al., Acta Horticulturae, 447, 231-234 (1997); Zagorska et al., PlantCell Report, 17: 12 968-973 (1998); Asahura et al., Breeding Science,45: 455-459 (1995); Chen et al., Breeding Science, 44: 3, 257-262(1994); Patil et al., Plant and Tissue and Organ Culture, 36: 2, 255-258(1994). In vitro regeneration of Solanaceae cultivars is furtherdescribed in Schuelter A. R. et al. Genet. Mol. Res. 2009 Aug11;8(3):963-75, In vitro regeneration of cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum,Solanaceae) cultivars for commercial production.

In vitro flowering and fruiting for tomato is described in Rao et al.:J. Plant Physiol. 2005 August; 162(8):959-62. Induction of multipleshoots from leaf segments, in vitro-flowering and fruiting of a dwarftomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Further aspects of in vitropropagation of tomato plant and related families are described in Zelceret al. Plant Cell Reports, 2(5), 252-254 (1983) Shoot regeneration inroot cultures of Solanaceae; S. Shrivastava, P. K. Dubey, Int. J. ofBiotechnology & Biochemistry, 3(1), 1-8 (2007) In-vitro callus inductionand shoot regeneration in Withania somnifera Dunal; R. P. Niedz et al.Plant Science 39(3), 199-204 (1985) Plant regeneration from leafprotoplasts of six tomato cultivars.

Various other aspects of tissue culture in tomato are described andsummarized in Bhatia et al. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 78(1),1-21 (2004) Tissue Culture Studies of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

Also, the invention comprehends methods for producing a seed of a“72-240 RZ”-derived tomato plant which may comprise (a) crossing a plantof tomato variety 72-240 RZ, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048, with a second tomatoplant, and (b) whereby seed of a “72-240 RZ”-derived tomato plant form(e.g., by allowing the plant from the cross to grow to produce seed).Such a method may further comprise (c) crossing a plant grown from“72-240 RZ”-derived tomato seed with itself or with a second tomatoplant to yield additional “72-240 RZ”-derived tomato seed, (d) growingthe additional “72-240 RZ”-derived tomato seed of step (c) to yieldadditional “72-240 RZ”-derived tomato plants, and (e) repeating thecrossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10generations to further generate “72-240 RZ”-derived tomato plants.

The invention additionally provides a method of introducing a desiredtrait into a plant of hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ by reversebreeding (See generally allowed U.S. application Ser. No. 10/487,468,published as 2006-0179498 A1), which may comprise the following steps:(a) allowing the hybrid tomato plant to produce haploid cells, whilesuppressing recombination, (b) growing haploid cells into diploidplants, (c) selecting those homozygous plants which together constitutethe hybrid variety of the invention as parent plants for the saidhybrid, (d) crossing one of the said parent plants with a plant havingthe desired trait, (e) crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parentplant, to produce backcross progeny; (f) selecting backcross progenywhich may comprise the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristic of the parent plant; and, optionally, (g)repeating steps (e) and (f) one or more times in succession to produceselected fourth or higher backcross progeny that comprise the desiredtrait and all of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofsaid parent plant, (h) crossing the backcrossed parent plant having theadded desired trait with the other parent plant obtained after reversebreeding to obtain a plant which may comprise the desired trait and allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of a plant oftomato variety 72-240 RZ.

Backcrossing one of the parents of a hybrid may also be used to improvean inbred plant. Backcrossing transfers a specific desirable trait fromone inbred or non-inbred source to an inbred that lacks that trait. Thismay be accomplished, for example, by first crossing a superior inbred(A) (recurrent parent) to a donor inbred (non-recurrent parent), whichcarries the appropriate locus or loci for the trait in question. Theprogeny of this cross are then mated back to the superior recurrentparent (A) followed by selection in the resultant progeny for thedesired trait to be transferred from the non-recurrent parent. Afterfive or more backcross generations with selection for the desired trait,the progeny are heterozygous for loci controlling the characteristicbeing transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almostall other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred.

The invention further involves a method of determining the genotype of aplant of tomato variety 72-240 RZ, representative seed of which has beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048, or a first generationprogeny thereof, which may comprise obtaining a sample of nucleic acidsfrom said plant and detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality ofpolymorphisms. This method may additionally comprise the step of storingthe results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on a computerreadable medium. The plurality of polymorphisms are indicative of and/orgive rise to the expression of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of tomato variety 72-240 RZ.

The polymorphisms of this invention may be provided in a variety ofmediums to facilitate use, e.g. a database or computer readable medium,which may also contain descriptive annotations in a form that allows askilled artisan to examine or query the polymorphisms and obtain usefulinformation.

As used herein “database” refers to any representation of retrievablecollected data including computer files such as text files, databasefiles, spreadsheet files and image files, printed tabulations andgraphical representations and combinations of digital and image datacollections. In a preferred aspect of the invention, “database” refersto a memory system that may store computer searchable information.

As used herein, “computer readable media” refers to any medium that maybe read and accessed directly by a computer. Such media include, but arenot limited to: magnetic storage media, such as floppy discs, hard disc,storage medium and magnetic tape; optical storage media such as CD-ROM;electrical storage media such as RAM, DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, ROM; and PROMs(EPROM, EEPROM, Flash EPROM), and hybrids of these categories such asmagnetic/optical storage media. A skilled artisan may readily appreciatehow any of the presently known computer readable mediums may be used tocreate a manufacture which may comprise computer readable medium havingrecorded thereon a polymorphism of the present invention.

As used herein, “recorded” refers to the result of a process for storinginformation in a retrievable database or computer readable medium. Forinstance, a skilled artisan may readily adopt any of the presently knownmethods for recording information on computer readable medium togenerate media which may comprise the polymorphisms of the presentinvention. A variety of data storage structures are available to askilled artisan for creating a computer readable medium where the choiceof the data storage structure will generally be based on the meanschosen to access the stored information. In addition, a variety of dataprocessor programs and formats may be used to store the polymorphsims ofthe present invention on computer readable medium.

The present invention further provides systems, particularlycomputer-based systems, which contain the polymorphisms describedherein. Such systems are designed to identify the polymorphisms of thisinvention. As used herein, “a computer-based system” refers to thehardware, software and memory used to analyze the polymorphisms. Askilled artisan may readily appreciate that any one of the currentlyavailable computer-based system are suitable for use in the presentinvention.

The invention is further described by the following numbered paragraphs:

1. Tomato plant exhibiting a combination of traits including pinkcolored fruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits inlongitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048.

2. Tomato plant of paragraph 1 wherein said combination of traits alsoincludes [weak ribbing at the peduncle end and absence of green shoulderbefore maturity].

3. Tomato plant designated 72-240 RZ, representative seed of whichhaving been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42048.

4. A seed of the plant of paragraph 1 or 2.

5. Parts of the plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph 3,wherein said parts of the plant are suitable for sexual reproduction.

6. Parts of the plant of paragraph 5, said parts selected from the groupconsisting of microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs and eggcells.

7. Parts of the plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph 3,wherein said parts of the plant are suitable for vegetativereproduction.

8. Parts of paragraph 7, said parts selected from the group consistingof cuttings, roots, stems, cells and protoplasts.

9. A tissue culture of regenerable cells from the tomato plant ofparagraph 1 or 2.

10. A tissue culture of paragraph 9, wherein said cells or protoplastsof the tissue culture are derived from a tissue selected from the groupconsisting of leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls,meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.

11. Progeny of a tomato plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph3.

12. Progeny of paragraph 11, wherein said progeny is produced by sexualor vegetative reproduction of said tomato plant, and wherein saidprogeny exhibits a combination of traits including pink colored fruits,medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits in longitudinalsection, fruits having two or three locules.

13. Progeny of a tomato plant of paragraph 3, having all themorphological and physiological characteristics of the tomato plant ofparagraph 3, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42048 as found in tomato variety 72-240 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. 42048.

14. Progeny of a tomato plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph3, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession 42048, and is modified in one or more other characteristics.

15. Progeny of paragraph 14, wherein the modification is effected bymutagenesis.

16. Progeny of paragraph 14, wherein the modification is effected bytransformation with a transgene.

17. A method of producing an inbred tomato plant derived from hybridtomato variety 72-240 RZ, comprising the steps:

-   -   a) preparing a progeny plant derived from hybrid tomato variety        72-240 RZ by crossing the plant of paragraph 1 or 2 with a        second tomato plant;    -   b) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second tomato        plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent        generation;    -   c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said        seed and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation        with itself or a second tomato plant; and    -   d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 1 more generation to        produce an inbred tomato plant derived from the hybrid tomato        variety 72-240 RZ.

18. An inbred tomato plant produced by the method of paragraph 17.

19. A method of producing a tomato fruit comprising: (a) obtaining aplant according to paragraph 1 or 2, wherein the plant has beencultivated to develop fruit; and (b) collecting a tomato fruit from theplant.

20. A fruit produced by the method of paragraph 19.

21. A method for producing a seed of a 72-240 RZ-derived tomato plantcomprising (a) crossing a plant of tomato variety 72-240 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. NCIMB 42048, with a second tomato plant, and (b) whereby seed of a72-240 RZ-derived tomato plant form.

22. The method of paragraph 21 further comprising (c) crossing a plantgrown from 72-240 RZ-derived tomato seed with itself or with a secondtomato plant to yield additional 72-240 RZ-derived tomato seed, (d)growing the additional 72-240 RZ-derived tomato seed of step (c) toyield additional 72-240 RZ-derived tomato plants, and (e) repeating thecrossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) to generate further 72-240RZ-derived tomato plants.

23. The method of paragraph 21 or 22 wherein the 72-240 RZ-derivedtomato plant exhibits a combination of traits including pink coloredfruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits inlongitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules.

24. Seed produced by the method of paragraphs 21 or 22 or 23.

25. A method of introducing a desired trait into a plant of hybridtomato variety 72-240 RZ comprising:

-   -   (a) crossing a parent plant of hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ,        with a second tomato plant that comprises the desired trait to        produce F1 progeny;    -   (b) selecting an F1 progeny that comprises the desired trait;    -   (c) crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parent plant of        tomato variety 72-240 RZ, to produce backcross progeny and    -   (d) selecting backcross progeny comprising the desired trait and        the physiological and morphological characteristic of said        parent plant of tomato variety 72-240 RZ, when grown in the same        environmental conditions.

26. The method of paragraph 25 wherein the parent plant is obtained byreverse breeding.

27. A method of determining the genotype of a plant of tomato variety72-240 RZ, representative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. NCIMB 42048, or a first generation progeny thereof,comprising obtaining a sample of nucleic acids from said plant anddetecting in said nucleic acids a plurality of polymorphisms, whereinthe plurality of polymorphisms are indicative of and/or give rise to theexpression of the morphological and physiological characteristics oftomato variety 72-240 RZ.

28. The method of paragraph 27 additionally comprising the step ofstoring the results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on acomputer readable medium, or transmitting the results of detecting theplurality of polymorphisms.

29. The computer readable medium of paragraph 28.

Having thus described in detail preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the invention defined by theabove paragraphs is not to be limited to particular details set forth inthe above description as many apparent variations thereof are possiblewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

1. Tomato plant exhibiting a combination of traits including pinkcolored fruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits inlongitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No.
 42048. 2.Tomato plant of claim 1 wherein said combination of traits also includesweak ribbing at the peduncle end and absence of green shoulder beforematurity.
 3. Tomato plant designated 72-240 RZ, representative seed ofwhich having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No.
 42048. 4. A seedof the plant of claim
 1. 5. Parts of the plant of claim 1, wherein saidparts of the plant are suitable for sexual reproduction.
 6. Parts of theplant as claimed in claim 5, said parts selected from the groupconsisting of microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs and eggcells.
 7. Parts of the plant of claim 1, wherein said parts of the plantare suitable for vegetative reproduction.
 8. Parts as claimed in claim7, said parts selected from the group consisting of cuttings, roots,stems, cells and protoplasts.
 9. A tissue culture of regenerable cellsfrom the tomato plant of claim
 1. 10. A tissue culture as claimed inclaim 9, wherein said cells or protoplasts of the tissue culture arederived from a tissue selected from the group consisting of leaves,pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematic cells, roots, roottips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.
 11. Progeny of a tomato plantof claim
 1. 12. Progeny as claimed in claim 11, wherein said progeny isproduced by sexual or vegetative reproduction of said tomato plant, andwherein said progeny exhibits a combination of traits including pinkcolored fruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits inlongitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules.
 13. Progeny ofa tomato plant of claim 3, having all the morphological andphysiological characteristics of the tomato plant of claim 3,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. 42048 as found in tomato variety 72-240 RZ, representative seed ofwhich having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No.
 42048. 14. Progenyof a tomato plant of claim 1, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession 42048, and is modified in one or moreother characteristics.
 15. Progeny as claimed in claim 14, wherein themodification is effected by mutagenesis.
 16. Progeny as claimed in claim14, wherein the modification is effected by transformation with atransgene.
 17. A method of producing an inbred tomato plant derived fromhybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ, comprising the steps: a) preparing aprogeny plant derived from hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ by crossingthe plant of claim 1 with a second tomato plant; b) crossing the progenyplant with itself or a second tomato plant to produce a seed of aprogeny plant of a subsequent generation; c) growing a progeny plant ofa subsequent generation from said seed and crossing the progeny plant ofa subsequent generation with itself or a second tomato plant; and d)repeating step b) or c) for at least 1 more generation to produce aninbred tomato plant derived from the hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZ.18. An inbred tomato plant produced by the method of claim
 17. 19. Amethod of producing a tomato fruit comprising: (a) obtaining a plantaccording to claim 1, wherein the plant has been cultivated to developfruit; and (b) collecting a tomato fruit from the plant.
 20. A fruitproduced by the method of claim
 19. 21. A method for producing a seed ofa 72-240 RZ-derived tomato plant comprising (a) crossing a plant oftomato variety 72-240 RZ, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048, with a second tomatoplant, and (b) whereby seed of a 72-240 RZ-derived tomato plant form.22. The method of claim 21 further comprising (c) crossing a plant grownfrom 72-240 RZ-derived tomato seed with itself or with a second tomatoplant to yield additional 72-240 RZ-derived tomato seed, (d) growing theadditional 72-240 RZ-derived tomato seed of step (c) to yield additional72-240 RZ-derived tomato plants, and (e) repeating the crossing andgrowing of steps (c) and (d) to generate further 72-240 RZ-derivedtomato plants.
 23. The method of claim 21 wherein the 72-240 RZ-derivedtomato plant exhibits a combination of traits including pink coloredfruits, medium sized fruits, circular shape of the fruits inlongitudinal section, fruits having two or three locules.
 24. Seedproduced by the method of claims
 21. 25. A method of introducing adesired trait into a plant of hybrid tomato variety 72-240 RZcomprising: (a) crossing a parent plant of hybrid tomato variety 72-240RZ, with a second tomato plant that comprises the desired trait toproduce F1 progeny; (b) selecting an F1 progeny that comprises thedesired trait; (c) crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parentplant of tomato variety 72-240 RZ, to produce backcross progeny and (d)selecting backcross progeny comprising the desired trait and thephysiological and morphological characteristic of said parent plant oftomato variety 72-240 RZ, when grown in the same environmentalconditions.
 26. The method of claim 25 wherein the parent plant isobtained by reverse breeding.
 27. A method of determining the genotypeof a plant of tomato variety 72-240 RZ, representative seed of which hasbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42048, or a firstgeneration progeny thereof, comprising obtaining a sample of nucleicacids from said plant and detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality ofpolymorphisms, wherein the plurality of polymorphisms are indicative ofand/or give rise to the expression of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of tomato variety 72-240 RZ.
 28. Themethod of claim 27 additionally comprising the step of storing theresults of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on a computerreadable medium, or transmitting the results of detecting the pluralityof polymorphisms.
 29. The computer readable medium of claim 28.